Volunteer Health Interpreters Organization

Volunteer Health Interpreters Organization is an student-run organization of trained health interpreters at University of California, Berkeley. Our mission is to bridge the language and cultural gap between healthcare providers and Limited-English Proficiency patients in the Bay Area. We do so by providing free health interpretation and translation services on behalf of our partners and clients. We also host a series of educational workshops to promote healthy living, preventative care practices and health awareness in the community. We recruit bilingual and trilingual students from UC Berkeley and rigorously train them through a semester-long class adapted from the intensive Language and Culture Access Program (LCAP) by Asian Health Services. Our diverse volunteers are dedicated to eliminating equal access to healthcare, especially for those hesitate or can not communicate with their providers due to language and cultural barriers. We believe that respectful, clear, and constructive communication between providers and patients is integral to the success of patients' treatment and preventative care. We also strongly believe patients who feel knowledgeable about their condition are more likely to feel empowered and actively engage in making educated healthy lifestyle choices. Contact us at calVHIO.org/contact or email us at [email protected] to learn more about how we can help your healthcare provider team connect with your clients!